Air conditioning method and apparatus



March 940. R. 'r. BRIZZOLARA 2,192,221

AIR CONDITIONING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed April 13, 1933 5Sheets-Sheet 1 imwum mm:-

A TTORNEYS.

March 5, 1940. R. "r. BRIZZOLARA. 2,192,221.

AIR CONDITIONING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed April 13, 1933 5Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Poss/2T 7'. BIZ/ZZOLAEA,

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A TTORNEYS.

R. T. BRIZZOLARA 2,192,221

AIR CONDITIONING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed April 15. 193: 5Sheets-Sheet s March 5, 1940.

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Man! 5, 1940- v R. T. BRIZZOLARA 2,192,221

AIR CONDITIONING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed April 13, 1933 5Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. 205527 T BQ/ZZOLARA,

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March S, 1940. 2 BRIZZQLARA I 2,192,221

AIR coum rlom-ue METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed April 13, 1923 sSheets-Sheet s I N V EN TOR.

Pose/2T T BBIZZOLA 12A A TTORNEYS.

Patented Ma 9 AIR. CONDITIONING METHOD 1 APPARAT S AND Robert T.Briznolara, New Dorp, N. Y., assignor to B. F; Sturtevant Company, HydePark, Boston,

Mass. I

Application April 13, 1933, Serial No. 665,860

Claims. (c1. 98-10) and again conditioned, and again discharged at highvelocity over the space to be served, down f along the other side of theenclosure, where it This invention relates to the conditioning of airfor human comfort and relates more particularly to the refrigeration anddehumidification of air circulated through passenger vehicles.

It is now becoming well known that human comfort requires that the airwithin an enclosure should be not only circulated to provide sufficientventilation, but should in winter, be warmed, with moisture added tomaintain the proper relative humidity, and in summer should be cooled,and moisture extracted from it, to overcome the excessive humidity whichis usually present.

While the conditioning of air for motion picture theaters, hotel, ofliceand industrial buildings has been developed to a high degree in recentyears, the air conditioning for vehicles, and particularly railway cars,has been more or less neglected, due, perhaps, to the peculiar problemsinvolved and the many difliculties present. Among the difficulties whichpresent themselves are the lack of space in a railway car which alreadyof necessity has had to accommodate the maximum of equipment in theminimum of space, the excessive refrigeration equipment which would haveto be carried if the ordinary method of conditioning buildings werefollowed, the changing temperature conditions through which a railwaycar must pass, the cost of the equipment, and other difliculties. Theweight of refrigerating systems is a serious factor, particularly whenthis weight must be carried all the year round.

An object of this invention is to condition the air supplied topassenger vehicles with a minimum of apparatus and expense.

Another object of the invention is to condition the air supplied topassenger vehicles without the necessity of modification of the interiorof the vehicles.

Another object of the invention is to condition the air supplied topassenger vehicles without using ventilating ducts.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ductless airdistribution system for the supplyv o conditioned air to enclosures.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in an air conditioningsystem, a novel form of heat exchange surface.

According to a feature of this invention, the conditioned air suppliedto the passenger space of a vehicle, or the space occupied by persons inany other form of enclosure, is first conditioned and then forced athigh velocity from a conditioning unit having a discharge located at oneend of the enclosure, above the space to be served and down along oneside of the enclosure.

"Located at the other end of the enclosure is another conditioning unitinto which the conditioned air supplied by the other unit is drawn ispicked up and indrawn, by the action of a blower in the firstconditioning unit, into thefirst conditioning unit, and againconditioned.

Thus, a continuous circuit or loop of conditioned air is kept inmovement, above the space being served, the conditioned air beingdirected down one side of the enclosure and up the other side by thecooperating action of the two units, the one picking up the airdischarged by the other unit, conditioning it, and again discharging it.Blowing the high velocity air to the other fans suction, tends tocontrol the direction of flow in a manner to prevent drafty currents ofcold air eddying downward on passengers. Outside air is filtered andsupplied in suflicient quantities to one or the other, or both, of theunits to add make-up air, and to maintain a positive static pressureslightly above outside pressure. This feature eliminates theinfiltration of dust and cinders into the car through crevices andcracks, since the fiow of air through these points will be from theinside of the car, where the higher pressure prevails to the outside.

In summer operation, for which this invention is primarily intended, theair supplied is cooled and dehumidified. The cold air discharged at highvelocity from the conditioning units is heavier than the warm air withinthe enclosure and advantage is taken of this fact to provide what isbelieved to be a new circulating system. According to this invention,rapid circulation of the cold air is maintained over the heads of s-theoccupants of the enclosure. The

colder air, due to the staticpressure and the relative air densitiesexisting within the space being served and in the circulating airstream, permits cold air to trickle down by gravity from the mainoverhead stream.

According to another featureof this invention in its application topassenger vehicles, a mechanical filter is arranged horizontally in thevestibule of the car. The outside air is passed through this filter onits way to the conditioning unit. By arranging the filter horizontally,advantage is taken of the continuous, unavoidable vibration of therailroad car to maintain the filter at all times in efiicient filteringcondition. As the particles of dust, cinders, and other foreign matterare collected by the filter from the air passing 'therethrough, thevibration of the car causes the filter to vibrate and the particles.

of foreign matter to be continuously dislodged therefrom to bedeposited, of course, upon the floor of the vestibuleoi' thecar.

PATENT (5pm;

by breaking up the discharge into well directed laminations.

According to another feature of the invention, the type of extendedsurfaces commonly used in automobile radiators, for example, are usedfor heat exchange surfaces in an air conditioning system. These types ofunits are extremely light in weight per unit of surface andcorrespondingly less costly.

The invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, ofwhich:

Fig. 1 is a plan view, in section of a railway car equipped with an airconditioning system according to this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, in section, similar to Fig. 1 of a railway carequipped with an air conditioning system utilizing the same type ofconditioning unit as shown by Fig. 1, except that it is located in asmall cabinet erected at the back ends of the cars, opposite thelavatories, where narrow seats are usually provided.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the car of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view, with top removed, of the air conditioningunit utilized in the systems of Figs. 1 and 3;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view looking into one end of the car,shown by Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of a complete system, according to thisinvention, utilizing steam for heating and ice water for cooling theair, and

Fig. '7 is a diagrammatic view of a complete system, which may be usedaccording to the systems of this invention, utilizing mechanicalrefrigeration for cooling the air.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 3 and 4 of the drawings, the apparatusutilized in one embodiment of the invention will be described. Thesefigures of the drawings show a standard railway car modified to a slightextent and equipped with air conditioning apparatus according to thisinvention. In each end of the car and in the half deck-zone thereof, asmall area indicated generally by the numerals I0, is sealed off by thepartitions II from the passenger space of the car. Inserted in one ofthe partitions I I is the intake grill I2 and in another'of thepartitions and on the opposite side of the center of the car is theoutlet grill I3. Located within the space I0 is the air conditioningunit I4 comprising the two extended surface units I5, the fan I6, drivenby the motorand the discharge duct I8. A passageway I9 is provided inthe end of the car between the space I0 and the space existing betweenthe ceiling 20 of the vestibule-of the car and that portion of the roofof the car overlying the vestibule. Arranged in the ceiling 20 of thevestibule of the car is the mechanical filter 2| which is horizontallymounted. In operation, the outside air is admitted to the conditioningunit I4, passes from the vestibule of the car through the filter 2| and.

opening I9, and then through the extended surfaces I5 in the directionindicated by the arrows in Fig. 1. Due to the horizontal arrangement ofthe filter and the continuous, unavoidable vibration of the railway car,the filter 2| is self- I cleaning. The felt filter effectively removesfrom the air passing therethrough, on its way to the conditioning unit,small particles of dust, cinders,

and other foreign matter from the outside air.,

These particles, as they collect, are continuously removed by beingshaken out to be deposited upon the floor of the vestibule of the car.

The operation of the system in summer is as follows: A refrigeratingfluid is circulated through the extended surfaces I5 and removes heattherefrom. This refrigerant may be ice water, any brine solution, or maybe freon, ammonia, or any other suitable refrigerant which may beexpanded directly in the extended surface side air passing through theextended surfaces I5, the cold extended surfaces of which serve toextract the heat and humidity from the air. Cooled air is then drawninto the blower and is discharged through the duct I8 from the outletgrill I3 at high-velocity down along one side of the car and over thespace occupied by the passengers.

The conditioning unit, located in the opposite side of the car, is soarranged that its intake grill I2 is opposite theoutlet grill I3 of theother unit; and its outlet grill I3 is opposite the intake grill I2 ofthe other unit. It is thus seen that one unit discharges coldair at highvelocity down along one side of the car and above the passenger space tothe intake of the other unit. The blower of the other unit, by suctionaction, picks up the air stream discharged by the opposite unit, themoving air stream thus being sustained in direction by the pressure ofone unit and the cooperating suction of the other unit. Thus, it. isseenthat the two units cooperate to force air down along one side of the carand to return the air down along the other side of the car, the airbeing conditioned in both units and outside air, as desired, beingadmitted at each unit.

While it has been found that the air under pressure of the blower in oneunit and under the suction of the oppositely placed unit, travels insubstantially a straight line down one side of the car withoutinterfering with the. reversely moving air stream on the opposite sideof the-car, a vertically extending longitudinal partition 22 may beprovided for positively confining the two air streams each to its ownside of the car. This partition may extend the full length of the car,between the units, or for any desired portion of the lengththerebetween.

It is seen that this invention provides a ductless system for thedistribution of conditioned air. As is well known, for the summerconditioning of air, it is not suflicient to merely cool the air to thedesired dry bulb temperature, this because normally too much moisturefor human comfort.

bulb temperature in order that the dew point of the air may be reducedsufliciently that. suflicient moisture content for comfort purposes isprecipitated on the extended surfaces. As a result of this necessity fordehumidification, the air discharged normally has too low a dry bulbtemperature or sensible heat for comfort. If this air was dischargeddirectly into the .space adjacent a person, he would feel a pronouncedchill and draft and would be uncomfortable, it having been demonstratedthat a temperature difference of more than about 5% produces undesirabledraft and chill conditions.

In theaters and other enclosures where air is conditioned in summer, itis customary to heat the air after it is cooled to raise its sensibleheat to that desired. This has been accomplished in the past either bythe use of steam coil tempering devices, or by the recirculation ofairfrom the auditorium where it is mixedlwithin the conditioning unit withthe cold air to raise the sensible heat thereof prior to discharge. Sucharrangements require, of course, expensive tempering devices orexpensive duct work, requiring space which is not available in railwaycars, for example.

According to this invention, the high velocity stream of very cold airdischarged above the space occupied bythe passengers, does not enterdirectly the space immediately adjacent the passengers and thus producedrafts and discomfort.

On the contrary, the cold air trickles down gradually under the staticpressure and the influence of gravity to penetrate the lower levels,displacing at the same time warmer air. As the very cold air seeps downgradually, it has its sensible heat raised by contact withthe warmer airwithin the passenger space to that desired, so that the conditioned airfinally reaching the passengers has the desired temperature and sensibleheat. Thus, the by-pass principle is made use of' without the necessityof returning the recirculated air to the-conditioning unit prior to thedischarge of the conditioned air.

Another important feature of the invention is,

of course, that the use of distributing ducts is dispensed with. In theair conditioning systems in railway cars common at the present time,longitudinal distribution ducts are placed down one or both sides of thecar. Such ducts are not necessary according to this invention. Further:

more, no useful space is occupied by the apparatus according to thisinvention. Thus, none of the valuable space required for seating thepassengers is utilized for air conditioning purposes.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 5," another em-' bodiment of the invention,having the air distribution features of the invention just described byemploying. a different arrangement of the apparatu s,. is disclosed.Whereas in the embodiment just described all of the air conditioningequipment is mounted in the half deck zone of the car in the embodimentabout to be described a portion of this equipment is mounted in smallrooms oppositely placed in the two ends of the car, a portion of theequipment extending into the car below the half deck zone. The dischargeand intake ducts in this embodiment are arranged substantially similarto those in the embodiment already described. The two air conditioningunits are mounted in the two rooms 23 which are formed in the ends ofand opposite corners of the car by partitions. The rooms are madesubstantially airtight except, of course, for the inlet and outletopenings. The air conditioning units each comprise a cooling compartment24 containing extended surfaces l5, shown by Figs. 1 and 3 of thedrawings. 'The'refrigerant is circulated through these extended surfacesto extract the heat therefrom, the extended surfaces in turn extractingheat from the air passing through the compartment. A filter 25 ismounted in window 26 and'outside air is drawn in through this filter Kinto the room 23. The air passesin the cooling passes into the coolingcompartment 24, where it has a portion of its heat content and moistureextracted andthe conditioned air is then discharged at a high velocitythrough the discharge grill 29. The drain pipe 30 is provided fordisnoted that the intake grill for drawing in air is locatedconsiderably higher than the small discharge grill.

is taken of the fact that the air discharged from,

With this arrangement, advantage one unit is considerably warmer when itreaches the intake grill of the oppositely placed unit,

and, as a result, tends to rise to a higher point in the car than thecold air.

Referring now to Figs. 6 and '7, there are disclosed diagrammaticallytwo refrigeration sys-' tems for the supply of refrigerant to theextended surfaces in the air conditioning units.

The embodiment disclosed in Fig. 6 is an ice water system, the ice bin3| containing cakes of ice and water, the melting of the ice extractingheat units from the water and the water being recirculated by meansofipump 32 driven by motor 33, through piping 34, to and through theextended surfaces 15. The ice bin 31 is adapted to be mounted on theunderside of the car equipped with easily accessible doors through whichcakes of ice may be introduced when it is necessary to replenish thebin.

In the embodiment shown by Fig. 'Lmechanical refrigeration is utilized.The compressor 35, driven by motor 36, operates to compress any suitablerefrigerant which is expanded within the surface coolerl5, to extractthe heat from the extended surfaces and through them from the airpassing thereover. 31' is provided for the expansion of the refrigerant.The heat absorbed by the refrigerant is expended in combination with thecooling tower condenser 38. The combined condenser pump and waterstorage bin 40 supplies water to the cooling tower spray, where it iscooled to substanclub carsand diners where the car is consider-* ablyshortened, it may not be necessary to use oppositely placed airconditioning units operated as described, but one unit may be eliminatedentirely, or both units may'be used and That is, its

one unit operated as a dummy. blower alone is operated, no refrigerantbeing supplied to its coils, the blower assisting in they circulation ofthe conditioned air supplied by the other unit.

J The expansion valve While the air conditioning system hasbeen.v

described in connection with summer operation, obviously the sameequipment could be used for winter operation. In winter, instead ofsupplying a refrigerant to the extended surfaces "I5, steam could besupplied thereto and the extended surfaces used for transmitting heat tothe air to be conditioned. In winter, under ordinary conditions, itwould be desirable to add humidity to the air. The saucer typehumidifier 43, indicated in dotted outline by Fig. 4, may be used forincreasing the relative humidity of the heated air. Water may besupplied to this humidifier from a convenient pressure tank, or may besupplied from a drip line connected with the steam supply system.

Heating in the winter can also be gotten by operating the ice waterpump, the water being heated by a steam coil in the ice tank or a finnedsteam coil in the water line.

To assist in the distribution of the air by controlling its directionwhen discharged from the ari conditioning units, according'to thisinvention, referring now to Fig. 4, the stream lined dampers 44 serve tobreak the air stream up into laminations and maybe adjusted to divertthe air to one side, as required, to provide more eflicient circulation.

It is to be noted, referring again to Fig. 4, that the extended surfacesl5 are cellular in form, resembling the construction of automobileradiators. This form of construction is believed to be novel for airconditioning purposes and its advantages are that such surfaces arecheaply constructed and are rugged and compact, these two latter factorsbeing very important for railway car purposes where cost of maintenance,light weight, and the amount of space required for installation areimportant. The unit is constructed of two of these radiator typesurfaces arranged in substantially V form. The air drawn into the bloweris forced to pass through one or the other, or both, of the radiatorsbefore entering the blower.= Ordinarily the fresh air is drawn throughone radiator and recirculated air in the other, the air being mixed inro-the space between thetwo units before being air in unconfined highvelocity blasts in a single,

indrawn into the blower. The mixing of air can take place beforeentering the radiators in the chamber enclosing the radiators. This willalways occur to more or less extent, dependent on the proportion offresh air to recirculated air. The arrangement shown by Fig. 4 isbelieved to provide a maximum heat exchange surface with a minimum ofspace required.

' The control of temperatures can be obtained by a variety of means;such as thermostatic by-r pass valves, or stoppage of the pump, throughtthe means of a thermostat in the car.

While one or more embodiments of the invention have been described forthe purpose of illustration, it should be understood that the inventionis not limited to the details described since many modifications may bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of supplying conditioned air at a desired temperature intoa space to be served, which comprises, filtering outside air, mixing thefiltered outside air with recirculated air, chilling the mixed air to atemperature substantially lower than that it is desired to maintainwithin said space, forcing .all of the chilled continuous, closed, loopcircuit substantially above and around the sides of said space, andpermitting chilled air from said circuit to fiow slowly into said spaceand warm air from said space to flow into said circuit in convectioncurrents, whereby the sensible heat 'of the chilled air isincreased bycontact with the warmer air overlying said space, until the temperatureof the conditioned air is that it is desired to supply into said space.

2. The method of supplying conditioned air at a desired temperature andrelative humidity into a space to be served, which comprises filteringoutside air having a high dry bulb temperature, mixing recirculated airwith the filtered outside air, chilling the mixed air to a dew pointtemperature substantially lower than the dry bulb temperature to bemaintained in said space, forcing all of the chilled air in unconfinedhigh velocity blasts in a single, continuous, closed, loop circuitsubstantially above and around the sides of said space, permittingchilled air from said circuit to flowslowly into said space and warm airfrom said space to flow into said circuit in convection currents,whereby the sensible heat of the chilled dehumidified air is increasedby contact with the warmer air overlying said space until the dry bulbtemperature of the conditioned air is that it is desired to supply intosaid space, and maintaining a static air pressure in saidv space abovethat of .the atmosphere external said space whereby vitiated air isdischarged from said space into the atmosphere.

3. Apparatus for the conditioning and ductless distribution of air,supplied to passengers within a railway passenger car, comprising, an

air conditioning unit mounted in' one end of the car, means forconducting outside and recirculated air into said unit, means withinsaid side of said car and arranged substantially above said dischargemeans, and another similar air conditioning unit in the other end ofsaid car and having an inlet arranged substantially above said dischargemeans of said first unit and a discharge means arranged substantiallybelow said last mentioned inlet and on a level with 4. Apparatus for theconditioning and ductless distribution of air supplied to passengerswithin a railway passenger car, comprising an air conditioning unitmounted in one end of said car outside the zone of the useful passengerspace, means for filtering outside air and conducting the filteredoutside air into said unit, heat exchange coils in said unit, meansadapting said coils for heating or cooling action as desired, means forforcing the, air to be conditioned. through said unit in contact withsaid heat exchange means, a vertical partition located outside the zoneof the useful passenger space between said unit and the passenger space,dis charge means in the roof zone'of and adjacent 'one of thelongitudinal sides .of said car and terminating'in said partition fordischarging the conditioned air from said unit in an unconfined 70 50said discharge means in said first unit but adja cent opposite sides ofsaid car.

said car for discharging the conditioned air from said second unit in anunconfined blast down along said other side of said car and overhead thepassenger space, and a vertical partition extending between saiddischarge means longitudinally of said car for separating the air insaid blasts.

'5. Apparatus for the conditioning and ductless distribution of airsupplied .to passengers within a railway passenger car, comprising anair conditioning unit mounted in one end of said car outside the zone ofthe useful passenger space, means for filtering outside air andconducting same into said unit, heat exchange coils in said unit, meansfor supplying a refrigerant to said coils, a vertical partition locatedoutside the zone of the useful passenger space, between said unit andthe passenger space, discharge means in the roof zone of and adjacentone of the longitudinal sides of said car and terminating in saidsimilar to said first mentioned discharge means connecting with saidsecond unit and terminating in said second mentioned partition andlocated opposite said inlet, a second blower within said second unit,and means forming a second inlet connecting with said second unit,terminating in said partition and arranged opposite said first mentioneddischarge means.

6. Apparatus for the conditioning and duct-' 'less distribution of airsupplied to passengers within a railway passenger car, comprising an airconditioning unit mounted in one end of said car outside the zone of theuseful passenger space, means for filtering outside air and conductingthe filtered outside air into said unit, heat exchange coils insaid-unit, means for supplying a refrigerant to said coils, a verticalpar.- tition located outside the zone'of the useful passenger spacebetween said unit and the beginning of passenger seating space,discharge means in the roof zone of and adjacent one of the longitudinalsides of said car, connecting with said unit. and terminating in saidpartition, for discharging the conditioned air from said unit in anunconfined blast down along one longitudinal side of said car andoverhead the passenger space, a blower within said unit between saidcoils and said discharge means, means comprising a plurality of pivotedvertical vanes for controlling the direction of the air discharged fromsaid discharge means, and means forming a recirculated air inlet in saidunit spaced from said discharge means towards the other side of saidcar.

7. In a railway passenger car having a passenger space to beconditioned, a pair of transversely disposed cooling surfaces mountedoverhead the passenger space, means for, supplying a cooling medium tosaid surfaces, a pair of spaced bulkhead partitions extending crosswisesaid car above the passenger; space, means form- I ing transverselydisposed recirculated air inlet openings, one in each of saidpartitions, means forming transversely disposed ductless chilled airdischarge outlet openings, one extending through each of said partitionsand terminating flush therewith on \the discharge side thereof, and apair of oppositely directed blowers, transversely disposed, one inalignment with and discharging into one of said outlet openings, and theother in alignment with and discharging into the other of said outletopenings, all disposed above said space, for forcing recirculated air inan unconfined blast down along one longitudinal side of and overheadsaid space and in contact with one of said surfaces, and for returningsame in an unconfined blast down along the other side of and overheadsaid space and in contact with the other of said surfaces.

8. The method of supplying cooled air at a desired temperature into aspace to be served, which comprises establishing a single, unconfinedloop circuit of recirculated air substantially above and around thesides of said space, adding substantial volumes of outside air having asubstantially higher temperature and humidity than it is desired tomaintain in said space, to

said circuit, chilling the air at two points in said circuit on oppositesides thereof to a temperature substantially lower than that it isdesired to maintain in said space, and permitting chilled air from saidcircuit to flow slowly into said space and warm air from said spacetoflow into said circuit, in natural convection currents whereby thesensible heat of the chilled air is increased in its downward movementby contact with the warmer air overlying said space until thetemperature of the conditioned air supplied from said circuit to saidspace is that it is desired to supply into said space.

- 9. In apparatus for the conditioning and ductless distribution of air,the combination with a railway car having a relatively long and narrowpassenger compartment terminating short of the ends of the car, an airconditioning unit at each end of the car above the normal headroom ofthe car and external to the said passenger compartment, and means forestablishing unconfined air currents moving in opposite directions alongthe opposite sides of and from end to end of the passenger compartmentabove the passenger space therein; said means comprising blowers forforcing air through the respective units, discharge means and arecirculated air inlet for each unit, the discharge means of the unitsbeing located at opposite ends of the passenger compartment adjacentopposite sides of the car and above the passenger space within thecompartment, and the recirculated air inlet of each unit beingsubstantially above the associated discharge means and at the oppositeside of the car. v

10. Apparatus as claimed in the preceding claim, wherein compartmentsare provided at opposite ends of the car for housing said airconditioning units, said compartments being ROBERT T. BRIZZOLARA.

